


The Artist In The Ambulance

by sendricamp



Category: Pitch Perfect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-23
Updated: 2012-12-23
Packaged: 2017-11-22 04:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/605744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sendricamp/pseuds/sendricamp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Depsite Chloe's pleading for Beca to pull over and not drive in the torrential downpour, Beca's stubbornness that she believes she'll be fine and Chloe's worrying over nothing wins out. As a result, Beca ends up in a terrible car accident, leaving her hospitalized in the ICU. Chloe's terrified she may lose Beca.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Artist In The Ambulance

It was raining, again. Beca groaned, running from the station to her car, ducking her head to avoid as much of the pouring rain as she could. Once within the shelter of the Ford, she started it before hitting the Sync button on the wheel, instructing it to call Chloe. The phone connected, Beca smiling as Chloe’s voice filled the car. “Hey, you just get out of work?”

“Yeah,” Beca said, slowly pulling out into the street, noting how no one was out. “I think I am the only person insane enough to try and drive in this rain.”

“Be careful,” her girlfriend pleaded.

“I am always careful, Chlo. You know this. I was going to say I would be home in about fifteen minutes, but the way this rain is, I am gonna say more like an hour. Shit, I can barely see the front of my car.”

“Beca, pull over and wait for it to slow down, please.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Chloe, I am fine. I learnt to drive in Oregon. It rains a lot there. I got this.”

She didn’t miss the exasperated sigh that worked its way through the speakers.

“I will see you when I get home. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Beca ended the call, watching as the light in front of her changed from red to green. Her foot hit the gas, the car halfway through the intersection when she felt the jolt. Bright lights, crunching metal and plastic. Pain. Darkness.

\--

“ _Ms. Mitchell was involved in a car accident. At this time, we cannot tell you the extent of the injuries, just that she has been transported to Emory Medical Center. The nurses in ICU should have more information when you get there.._ ”

Chloe ended the call, the phone dropping from her hand. Her back pressed to the wall, she numbly slid to the floor, her heart feeling like it was going to pound out of her chest. Beca was in a car accident. A car accident just minutes after she had told her fiance that she loved her. Someone was screaming, and it took her a minute to realize it was her. Aubrey was by her side in a matter of seconds, arms wrapped around her.

Somehow, the redhead managed to get the subject of the phone call out, Aubrey helping the woman up. Chloe let the blonde lead her to the car, and when her mind finally started to regain focus, she was running to the desk at the entrance to the ICU. “Beca Mitchell. She was in a car accident.”

“Are you a relative?”

“I am her fucking fiance. Is she okay?”

The nurse looked annoyed with Chloe’s choice of words, but looked at the computer screen. “She is still in surgery. You can have a seat in the waiting room and the doctor will be with you shortly.”

Aubrey pulled Chloe to the quiet room -- which was strangely empty -- and sat her down on one of the chairs, hunching down to meet her eyes. “I am going to go call her dad and let him know, okay? Will you be fine by yourself for a few minutes?”

Chloe nodded, her fingers twirling the ring on her finger, eyes locked forward, unfocused. Aubrey kissed the top of her head before disappearing from the room.

\--

The light hurt her eyes. Or maybe it was her brain hurting her eyes. Something was in her side. Not touching it, in it. She tried to move her arm to pull at it, panicking when nothing happened. She couldn’t move. Voices floated in and out, and she could smell the blood. There had to be so much. She felt sticky. And fuck did her head hurt. A searing pain hit her side, the bright lights she saw overhead fading out. Beeping, frantic. She was cold, and she wanted Chloe.

Another jolt of pain, this one in her left leg. The frantic beat of the beeping before nothing. She heard nothing. Her whole body shook, the beeping returning, slowing to a regular pace. Chloe. Chloe. She needed Chloe. She needed those blue eyes looking at her. Telling her that everything was going to be okay. The red hair that always smelt like the peppermint scented shampoo she used. Spread out on the pillows in their bed, soft breath on the back of her neck as they slept. Hands that slid perfectly into hers. Soft lips, kissing her neck, her cheek, her mouth.

She should have pulled over. Sat at the side of the street and talked to Chloe until the rain slowed enough to drive safely. Should have. Could have. Didn’t.

The pain was back, roaring across her skin, tickling every nerve ending on her body. She tried to move her hand, feeling her finger move. The effort sent a wave of white hot pain up her arm, stopping at sitting in her left shoulder.

Chloe.

She wanted to scream the name. Her mouth wouldn’t open. Chloe.

The voices were clearer. “She’s stable.”

\--

Chloe hadn't let go of Warren Mitchell’s hand in over two hours. They both sat in silence, staring at the door to the room. Aubrey and Sheila, Beca’s step-mother, sat across from them, watching the two. Chloe’s foot was tapping out a steady rhythm. The door opened, a tired doctor walking into the room. Chloe stood up, her heart pounding.

“She is stable,” he started, watching as relief flooded over the faces of the people in the room. “The other car hit her on the drivers side, with enough force to knock her car into a tree on the corner. Her left ankle, leg and knee are broken, along with her right wrist. She had no internal bleeding, but from a piece of shrapnel in her left side she did lose a lot of blood. She required thirty stitches on the left side of her head, just behind her ear. It is going to be a long road, but I don’t forsee any long term issues.”

“When can we see her?” Warren asked, his voice hoarse.

“You and Ms. Beale can follow me to her room,” he said, heading towards the door. They followed, silent, Chloe still holding tightly to his hand, feeling like a lost little girl. “There is a lot of bruising that will go away over the next few days. We should have her out of ICU by the weekend.” He stopped outside a room, holding the door open. Chloe pressed her forehead to Warren’s arm, unable to will herself to look at the bed just yet.

She took a few steadying breaths, finally turning her head towards the bed. Her hand went over her mouth to hold in the sob. Beca looked helpless, her eyes closed, the machine keeping a steady beeping rhythm next to her. Chloe stood in the middle of the room, watching as Warren walked to the bed, carefully taking Beca’s right hand in his, using his free hand to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Chloe’s head felt heavy, spots forming in front of her eyes. She found the chair and sat down, putting her head between her knees and breathing deeply. She couldn’t pass out.. not now. The spinning feeling ebbed, and she risked lifting her head, her eyes falling on Beca’s face. There were bruises covering the left side, and hair had been cut and shaved, the bandage covering a large portion of the skin. The cast on her leg started over her foot and went clear to her hip. Her right arm was covered from knuckles to elbow.

“I want her eyes to open,” Chloe said. “I need them to open. I need to see them.” She stood up, slightly shaky, and walked to the side of the bed, letting Warren wrap his arm around her shoulders. “That’s how I will know she is okay. I need to see.. I need her to see me.” Her fingers began fidgeting with the ring again.

“I know,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “She will, soon.”

They stood by the bed, silent. Chloe kept looking at her watch, counting the minutes and then the hours. Warren had moved the larger of the chairs for Chloe to sit in, taking the other for himself. Three hours. Chloe felt her head drooping with sleep when she saw it, out of the corner of her eye. “Her finger.. it twitched,” she said, sitting up, suddenly wide awake. “Beca?” she asked, her eyes going to the younger womans face. “Open your eyes, Beca, please.”

The fingers on Beca’s left hand twitched, then flexed. Her head tilted to the side, her face scrunching before slowly opening her eyes. Chloe had never been so happy to see those dark blue eyes. “Wha..” Beca’s voice was nothing more than a raspy whisper. Warren jumped up, getting the water cup and putting the straw in her mouth, letting her drink. “I’m alive,” she choked out.

“Yeah, you are!” Chloe said, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes. “I guess you are really, really hard to get rid of,” she choked out, gently bringing her right hand to her mouth, gently kissing the fingers.

“You gave us a really good scare, kiddo,” Warren said, his hand holding tightly to Beca’s left. He looked over at Chloe, who kept her eyes trained on Beca’s face. “I am going to go tell Aubrey and Sheila that you are awake, and then I am going to call your mother.” Chloe turned her head, nodding slowly as he left the room, turning back to Beca, a small smile on her face.

“I thought I was going to lose you.”

“You.. aren’t getting out.. of marrying me.. that easy,” she mumbled, taking her time to form the words in her mind before letting them out. “I don’t.. I don’t mean to joke. It makes it easier.”

Chloe nodded, her arm gently reaching out to run across the bruises on her cheek. “I told you to pull over,” she said, her voice sad. “You are just so stubborn sometimes.”

“I keep you on your toes.”

“Yes, you do. And you also tend to give me mini-heart attacks. Gotta break that habit real soon, yeah?”

Beca slowly nodded, wincing. “I hurt.”

“You are gonna hurt for a while,” she replied. “But I am going to take really good care of you whenever you get to come home. Until then, though, you can bet your ass I am going to do nothing but be in this hospital.”

Chloe looked over as the doctor came in, chart in hand and a smile on his face. “Glad to see you awake,” he said, looking at Beca before turning to check the monitors. “Everything still looks stable, which is good. If nothing changes overnight, we should be able to move you to a regular room by tomorrow evening so you can have friends and other family visit.”

He finished writing something in the folder before heading to the door, stepping aside as Warren entered. “You’re mom is flying out tomorrow morning,” he said, stepping to the bed.

“I am gonna go home and get some sleep, but I will be back first thing in the morning, okay?” Chloe said, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Beca’s forehead. “I love you.”

“Love you,” she replied, wiggling the fingers on her right hand as Chloe backed out of the room.

\--

Chloe walked into the living room, smirking at the sight of Beca, left leg propped up on the table, right arm in a sling, staring at her laptop across the room. “You okay?”

“I haven’t been able to make a mix. I need two hands and this fucking cast gets in the way and it has been a fucking month since I have been able to mix anything and I think I am slowly going insane,” she grumbled, not taking her eyes off the computer. After a minute, she finally looked up, noticing Chloe had two plates of food.

“It isn’t anything fancy, just some roast beef, gravy and mashed potatoes. We have been living off of pizza and fast food for too long. We needed something better.” She sat down on the couch, setting Beca’s plate on the couch next to her. They ate in silence, Chloe pushing her food around her plate.

“I feel like you are mad at me,” Beca said, leaning forward and putting her plate on the table. Chloe looked at the younger woman.

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because I kept driving when you told me I should have pulled over,” she said. They hadn’t sat down and properly talked about the accident yet, Beca choosing to clam up if Chloe ever brought it up. “I have these bits and pieces of memories from when I was in surgery. I thought about you, a lot. When I thought about you, the pain seemed to stop.”

Chloe scooted over on the couch, her hand tangling with Beca’s. “They said your heart actually stopped on the table,” she mumbled. “Please believe me when I say that I am not mad at you, and I will never be mad at you about it. Beca, we are going to be married, and with that, all hope of you listening to me goes out the window,” she said, smile on her face. “I have the rest of our lives to tell you things and have you not listen.”

Beca looked at the case on her leg, tears in her eyes when she looked at Chloe again. “I.. I can’t help but think about the fact that there was almost a chance that we wouldn’t have this moment. I could have died, when it was as simple as pulling the car over.” She brought her hand to her face, wiping the tears away. “I think I am going to listen to you a lot more from now on.”


End file.
